Words of Welcome

Mark 10:2-16 We are broken people who live in a broken world. That’s not a message we like to hear, but it’s true. This message is revealed in the opening chapters of Genesis. While things start okay, things go downhill after Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. After their exile from the garden, one of their sons, Cain, kills his brother Abel because God prefers Abel’s gift over Cain’s. Things get so bad that God, in frustration, decides to send a flood and start over with Noah. But even then, things don’t get much better. That’s just the way things are. Noah and his descendants were just as broken as his ancestors. The problem of brokenness remains part of our reality to this day.   We see this brokenness revealed in our relationships as families, communities, nation, and the world. It’s like a virus that eats away at our inner being. Every aspect of human life seems to be vulnerable to this malignancy of the human spirit. This includes the most intimate of human rela...

  Cesar Barredo Luke 20:27-38 The opening hymn invites us to remember all the saints of God, “who from their labors rest, who thee by faith before the world confessed, thy name O Jesus, be forever blest!”  While All Saints Day falls on November 1, the first Sunday of November seems to me to be an appropriate day to remember God’s saints who now rest from their labors and by faith confessed the name of Jesus, “forever blest.” I expect each of us can name several saints whose lives exemplified the grace, mercy, and love of God. With that in mind I would like to lift up the name of the Rev. LLoyd Saatjian. LLoyd served for many years as pastor of First United Methodist Church in Santa Barbara. He was, in life, my friend, ministry colleague, and mentor. When I arrived in Santa Barbara, he encouraged me to become a leader in the local faith community and when I experienced difficulties later on in my ministry there he stood by me, encouraging me to stay strong and continue ...

Adam and Eve in the Garden - Creation - Songea Cathedral, Tanzania Genesis 2:18-24 The film, Cast Away , is a modern-day retelling of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe . In the film, a FedEx plane goes down over the South Pacific and Chuck Noland, who is a FedEx executive played by Tom Hanks, is the only survivor. After he survives the crash, Noland is determined to live long enough to get rescued. He survives his ordeal in part because he develops a friendship with a volleyball with a face he drew with his own blood. Since the ball was produced by the Wilson sporting goods company, he named the ball Wilson. This ball becomes Noland’s conversation partner and companion. The film came out in 2000 so I don’t think I need to worry about spoilers. You’ll be glad to know that the film ends on a happy note. Noland tried for months to get the attention of passing ships and planes, but no one came to rescue him. So Chuck built a raft, loaded all the packages he had saved from the wreckage of ...

Revelation 19:6-10 Photo by Crystal Balogh If you got invited to a big wedding banquet, would you get all excited? Would you see it as an opportunity to get all dressed up? Or would you wait to see if a better invitation came your way? I’ve been to a few wedding banquets in my time. Some were large and some small. Some were fancy and others were informal. Weddings are special events, and depending on your relationship with the couple, they might be can’t miss events.   A few weeks back we heard Jesus tell a parable about a big banquet, which could have been a wedding banquet. In that story all the invited guests discovered that they had something better to do than attend the banquet (Luke 14:15-24). Our reading from Revelation 19 offers us another dinner invitation. This invitation is to the “marriage supper of the Lamb,” which takes place in the heavenly realm. The angel or messenger of God has declared that “blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper o...

Genesis 29:15-28 This summer I had the privilege of officiating at the weddings of two  of our couples.  I’ve done a few weddings in my time, so I’ve got a bit of experience with these sorts of things.  It’s clear to me that wedding customs have changed somewhat since Cheryl and I were married thirty-one years ago.  I think things were a bit simpler back then, or at least that’s the way it seems to me and others my age.  But, that’s the way life is – things tend to change. The reading from Genesis this morning tells an interesting wedding story. It’s part of a larger story that goes back to when Jacob tricked his brother Esau out of his inheritance.  From the very beginning of the story, we learn that Jacob, who is one of the heroes of the Bible, is also a  trickster who gets by on his wits. But sometimes tricksters get tricked, and that’s what happens here.  What stood out to me as I read this passage is how different our custom...

Galatians 6:1-16 How can we embrace God’s New Creation?  Or, what does it mean to live in God’s Realm?  And how do we know we’re living in this realm?  What marks or brands us, so that we know we’re part of this realm of God?         Is it circumcision?  Apparently some Christians in Galatia thought so, but Paul disagreed.  We’re not really sure who was making this argument, but Paul didn’t think circumcision was a necessary marker.  He does write about baptism being the  means by which Christians clothe themselves with Christ.  Ultimately, it appears that what matters most, the thing we can boast about, should we need to boast, is the Cross of Christ.  It is the cross that marks the entrance to the New Creation. That is, instead of a physical mark on our bodies, what matters most is our living a life defined by the cross. As we hear this final chapter of Paul’s Galatian letter read, did you hear him ta...

Genesis 2:18-24 In the film Cast Awa y, which is a modern day retelling of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe , a FedEx plane goes down over the South Pacific.  The only survivor is a FedEx executive named Chuck Noland (played by Tom Hanks).  He tries to stay alive long enough to get rescued.  He survives, in part because he develops a friendship with a volley ball with a face drawn from us blood, and whom he calls  Wilson.  Wilson becomes his conversation partner and companion, and the message in this seems to be that it’s not good to be alone.  Now, after months of trying to get the attention of ships and planes, Chuck builds a raft, loads all the packages he had saved from the wreckage of the plane, and heads out to sea hoping that he can reach the shipping lanes so a passing ship can spot him.  Everything works out – sort of.  He does get rescued, but during the voyage a storm comes up and Wilson is lost at sea.  This loss devastates ...

Isaiah 62:1-5 A bride always stands out at a wedding. Even the groom is overshadowed by her presence. To give you a sense of the disparity between bride and groom, let me tell you about a Midwestern tradition called the groom’s cake. Being from the West Coast I’d never heard of such a thing, but in Kansas, it seems that every wedding reception has a groom’s cake. Compared to what has to be called the "bride’s cake," this little cake is humble and nondescript. It’s just a simple ordinary cake – no tiers, arches, or fountains. It’s just cake, frosting, and maybe the groom’s name. Perhaps the reason why a bride stands out on her wedding day is that she’s simply more beautiful than the groom. No one pays much attention when the groom and his attendants enter the sanctuary with little fanfare, but when the bride's maids begin to enter everyone pays attention. They know that the real show is about to begin. The crowd turns and watches expectantly, hoping to get a good look at t...